Hook



Nov, 8, 1949 G. L. SHERWOOD HOOK Filed Dec. 50, 1944 Patented Nov. 8, 1949 iJNITED STA'lf..iS

HOOK Glenn L. Sherwood, Benton Harbor, Mich. Application December 30, 194.4, Serial No. 570,592

'7 Claims.

disposed position, close to the wall or support to which the hook is fastened or supported, the clothes hook being constructed and arranged so that it will normally maintain itself in its upward position irrespective of whether it is supporting articles or not; to provide a clothes hook of the foregoing character wherein the hook is formed so that when in substantially vertical position compactly disposed with respect to the vertical wall support, if there be any articles supported by the clothes hook they will tend to main tain the hook in such vertical position; to provide a clothes hook consisting of a sheet metal stamping forming housing and a bar pivotally connected thereto, the car including at its inner end a curved or angled portion pivotally connecting to the sheet metal housing and the bar including an outwardly extending, substantially' straight portion which is arranged when in horizontal position to provide an elongated clothes hook, the entire arrangement being such that the straight bar may he swung to a vertical position and collapsed against the wall upon which. the clothes hanger is the curved portion being shaped so that it will normally maintain the straight portion in such upwardly extending position and also being arranged so that the curved portion is adapted to receive the weight of articles being supported and whereby said weight tends to maintain the straight portion. in upwardly extending position; to provide these other objects of invention, as will apparent from a perusal. of t allowing specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawins, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates one view of the new clothes hook, the sane being in compact, upwardly eX-- tending position;

Figure 2 is the opposite position of the clothes hook; I

Figure 3 is a side view of the clothes hook with parts of the housing broken away;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 45 of Figure 3 and Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3. Referring now to the drawings in detail, the invention comprises a preferably sheet metal housing including the two side plates 2 and i, each of which has a right angularly disposed, integral foot 5 and 8 provided with holes is and i2 by which the device may be nailed or fixed to the wall 55 by means of fasteners M and It. The outer portion 68 of the housing is preferably integral with the sheet metal side plates 2 and and is preferably rounded as at 2% to form a smooth curve which has the center portion of the side plates 2 and d as a radius, this point being preferably the center point 22. In addition, the clothes or other support includes a relatively long hook providing a relativel long, straight portion it having a headed end 25, an intermediate curved portion 28, and an inner curved end 39 constituting the bill of the hook, the extreme end 32 of which is pivoted by means of a pin 34 to the housing members 2 and 4. It will be noted that the portion o is formed upon the same curve as is the wall portion 2% of the housing, whereoy when the hook is swung to a'down position as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, the curved portion 38 contacting the curved portion it of the housing will act as a stop whereby positively to limit the downward position of the straight part 24 of the clothes hook, and whereby the weight of the clothes will be mainly carried by the arcuate curved portion is of the housing.

The curved portion 23 of the clothes hook is formed so that any coat hooks or hangers which are on the straight portion at of the hook will by gravity move inwardly toward the position 156. As shown in dotted lines in Figure the clothes hook is lifted to the up position, and when these clothes hooks are in this position it will be noted that they will lie to the right of the pivotal point 34 at which the clothes hook proper is pivoted to the housing, whereby the weight of the same will tend to maintain the straight portion i l of the hook in upward position with its end or cap 26 substantially contacting the vertical wall l5 upon which the housing is supported.

It must be obvious that my improved clothes hook, garment support, or whatever kind of support, may be made of any desired type of material provided it is constructed in accordance with the foregoing principles.

It will be apparent that when the straight portion 24 of the hook is in the horizontal position shown in Figure 2, a plurality of coat hooks or other articles may be maintained in spaced relation thereon as indicated in the figure, and alternatively these same coat hooks or what not may be then crowded together and pushed against the wall, the long portion 24 of the hook being swung to an upwardly inclined position close tothe vertical wall l5 where it is out of the way while at the same time supporting one or more hooks or garments or what not. It also is apparent that in the down position the straight portion 24 may support the garments in horizontally spaced apart position or may support them in close together position either outwardly or inwardly of the hook. If inwardly of the hook the hook will be swung automatically into upward position, while if outwardly the straight portion 24 will be maintained horizontal.

It is to be understood that the use of the words curved portion of the hook is meant to include a hook having a right angle bend therein which would tend to function similarly even though such hook would not be as smooth in action or as attractive in appearance. Therefore wherever the words curved portion occur in the claims they are meant to include likewise a hook having a suitably angled bend therein.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the specific details of construction disclosed herein but is capable of other modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, in combination with a housing having opposed walls capable of being fastened to a supporting vertical wall or the like, said housing being substantially hollow, the front portion of said housing providing an arcuate wall, a hook having a relatively long straight outer portion and a curved inner portion, the inner curved end of the hook being pivoted to the housing contiguous to the curved wall of the housing, and said curved end of the hook-shaped support being formed on a curve corresponding to the curve of the housing, whereby when the straight portion of the hook is in horizontal position said innermost curve will contact the curved wall of the housing and act as a stop to limit the front downward movement of the straight portion of the hook.

2. In a device of the class described, in combination with a housing adapted to be mounted on a stationary member, the front portion of said housing providing an arcuate wall, a hook having a relatively long straight outer portion and a curved inner portion, the inner end of said curved portion being pivoted to said housing outwardly of said stationary member, and the curved portion of said hook adjacent its inner end being formed on a curve corresponding to the curve of said housing, whereby when the straight portion of the hook is in horizontal position said curved portion will contact the curved Wall of the housing and act as a stop to limit the front downward movement of the straight portion of the hook.

3. In combination with a support adapted to be mounted on a stationary member, a hook having a straight outer portion and a curved inner portion, the end of said curved portion being pivotally connected to said support, and the curved portion of the hook adjacent its inner end being disposed inwardly of said pivotal point toward the stationary member, said hook being adapted to swing from a substantially horizontal position to a raised position whereby garment hangers engaged in the straight portion when said hook is in horizontal position, will be slidably shifted to said curved portion when said hook is swung to raised position, the disposition of the curved portion of the hook inwardly of the pivotal point resulting in the load on the hook acting to maintain said hook in its raised position.

4. In combination with a support adapted to be attached to a fixed member and having a stop at its front portion, a hook having a straight outer portion and a curved inner portion, the inner end of said hook being pivoted to said support, and the inner curved portion of said hook being disposed inwardly of the pivotal point, whereby the inner portion of said hook will contact the wall of said support to limit the hooks front downward movement and will support objects engaged therewith when said hook is in raised position.

5. The combination of a bracket adapted to be mounted on a support to project laterally therefrom, a hanger comprising a curved hook portion, the bill of the hook being approximately one-half the length of the hook portion and being pivotally mounted on said bracket, the other end of the hook being extended into a straight hanger rod portion adapted to receive a plurality of garment hangers when the rod portion is in horizontal position, said rod portion having a garment hanger supporting surface extending longitudinally thereof to permit sliding movement of the garment hangers along the length of the rod portion, the hook portion being of such length as to receive a plurality of garment hangers when the rod is swung to a raised position and the hook to a horizontal position, the pivot being located so that the load engaged therewith acts to urge the rod portion rearwardly when it is in raised position, the bracket being provided with a stop with which the hook engages when the rod is swung to a horizontal position, the garment hanger supporting surface of the rod portion merging into the garinent hanger supporting surface of the curved hook portion to permit the garment hangers to slide continuously along the rod portion into the curved hook portion as the rod portion is swung to a raised position.

6. The combination of a bracket adapted to be mounted upon a support to project laterally therefrom, a hanger comprising a curved hook, the bill of the hook being pivotally mounted on the bracket to permit the swinging of the hook in a vertical plane, the outer end of the hook being extended into a hanger rod, said rod portion having a garment hanger supporting surface extending longitudinally thereof to permit sliding movement of the garment hangers along the length of the rod portion, the hook being of such length as to permit a plurality of garment hangers to be engaged therewith when the rod is swung to raised position with the hook in approximately horizontal position, the bill of the hook being of such length that the load on the hook tends to maintain the rod portion of the hook in its raised position, the bracket being provided with a stop with which the bill of the hook coacts to support the rod in horizontal position, the garment hanger supporting surface of the rod portion merging into the garment hanger supporting surface of the curved hook portion to permit the garment hangers to slide continuously along the rod portion into the curved hook portion as the rod portion is swung to a raised position.

7. The combination with a supporting bracket, of a hanger hook comprising a rod portion merging at its inner end into a curved arm hook portion having a return bent end disposed within the bracket and pivoted at its end to said supporting bracket to permit the swinging of the rod portion to a horizontal position or to raised position, said rod portion having a garment hanger supporting surface extending longitudinally thereof to permit sliding movement of the garment hangers along the length of the rod portion, the brackat being provided with a stop for supporting the rod portion in the horizontal position, the inner end of the rod portion being merged into the curvature of the arm portion, the arm portion being of such length that a plurality of garment hangers may be supportingly engaged therewith when the rod portion is swung to an upright position, the pivoted terminal portion being of such 9 length that manual operation is required to return the rod portion to horizontal position, the garment hanger supporting surface of the rod .portion merging into the garment hanger supporting surface of the curved arm portion to permit the garment hangers to slide continuously along the rod portion onto the curved arm portion as the rod portion is swung to a raised position.

GLENN L. SHERWOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

